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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351971">Blood In His Eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachfuzzz/pseuds/peachfuzzz'>peachfuzzz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, Big Brother Uchiha Itachi, Character Death, Edo Tensei, Itachi has feelings, Itachi should be reincarnated into Haikyuu, Minor Violence, Nagato is shook, POV Uchiha Itachi, Rebirth, Reincarnation, The death being Itachi's, Uchiha Itachi-centric, Well not yet - Freeform, Writing Exercise, but this is not about that, poor sasuke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:02:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,420</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351971</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachfuzzz/pseuds/peachfuzzz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short fic on Itachi's final moments and what was running through his mind :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Blood In His Eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Alright so I had a random plot bunny: Naruto X Haikyuu. What if after Itachi dies he gets reincarnated into the world of Haikyuu! He grapples with PSTD, anxiety, depression (y'know the usual child soldier and mass murderer is reincarnated into a civilian thing), but slowly recovers in this new life of his. He falls in love with volleyball (finally, something he can partake in that doesn't involve blood!) and builds himself a family along the way (heheh what better support than a volleyball team and two childhood friends that go by the name of Oikawa and Iwaizumi? yea..). Essentially, I was like Itachi totally deserves a normal life surrounded by people who can love and cherish him bc my friggin Uchiha baby deserves that! Anyways, this fic I posted is just the set up for this whole thing. It's basically me delving into Itachi's psyche in his final moments (before he is supposedly whisked away into the world of volleyball lol). So idk if I'm actually going to write a whole haikyuu x naruto fic, but I figured might as well share these few pages I have.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Uchiha Itachi crumples to the ground with a smile on his face, blood leaking from his lips, and the familiar burn of his Susanoo dissipating around him. He doesn’t have enough chakra to activate his sharingan since he used up the last of it to seal Amaterasu (set to burn Tobi) inside of Sasuke, but he does his best anyways to sear the final blurred image of his otouto’s confused and hurt face into the back of his mind. He has lived for Sasuke, killed for Sasuke, and now he will die for Sasuke. So he should be satisfied, satisfied that his plan has been successful, that he’s been the perfect shinobi for Konoha, that his otouto has grown into a strong shinobi, rogue nin or not (although he certainly hadn’t calculated that into his initial plan) but ‒‒ but he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s not, because there is some small desperate desire in him that wants to </span>
  <em>
    <span>live</span>
  </em>
  <span>. There is something in him that wants to see Sasuke, see him smile the same way he used to whenever Itachi shared his dango with him or pout whenever Itachi had to go on a mission. And how absurd is that? That he - a killer, a man who slaughtered his own parents, and has been an S rank nin in the bingo book since he was 13 - wants to live? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because regardless if Konoha ordered him to do it, in the end, it was his sword. His sword that sliced through the necks of his cousin and gutted the stomachs of his uncles and aunts. His kunai that swiftly embedded itself in the necks of his neighbors, in the artery of the elder who used to give him an extra stick of dango. Uchiha Miyuki was a civilian who had lost all three of her children in the third shinobi war. In the rare instances that Itachi would stop by her bakery, the elder would often wrap her aged hands around his own calloused ones and touch them to her forehead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“May the will of fire protect you,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> she would softly pray, crows feet at the edges of her eyes and warmth in her hands. She treated Itachi as if he were own grandson, and in return he pierced her throat with a senbon.        </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi doesn’t deserve to live. He doesn’t deserve to be happy, doesn’t deserve to see his brother look at him with the whole world in his eyes and a wide smile on his lips. He’s known this since the first child he killed (it was his second anbu mission, a quick slit of the throat and the small boy had gone limp in his arms), has carried this belief with him every step he’s taken, every kunai he’s thrown and had waited. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Had waited for Sasuke to become strong enough, hateful enough to offer him death, because just as much as he doesn’t deserve to live, Itachi doesn’t deserve to kill himself and release himself of this crushing guilt that is etched into the very lines of his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now here he is, lying on the cold hard ground of the Uchiha hideout, eyes blinded to the point that he can’t see anything but light and shadows. He can feel his chakra dimly flickering and fading away with each bloody breath he takes, the disease having spread enough that each one is more painful than the next. He can’t tell if Sasuke is still here or if he’s long left, although he wouldn’t be surprised if Sasuke has left. The thought that he’s going to die here alone stings a little, but this is the least he deserves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(No, something in him whispers, I don’t want to die alone) </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He likely has less than a minute before he dies, before he takes his last inhale in this accursed world, but he’s not really scared. He’s a shinobi and death is something that’s as familiar as the back of his scarred hand. He’s given it and seen it in equal parts and now he is simply on the receiving end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi has given up his entire life for Konoha, every painful breath he’s taken has been for Konoha. And he had hoped that it would be enough, had hoped that all the blood (so so much blood) on his hands would be enough for Konoha, and yet they had failed to protect the one thing he truly cared about. While he should be furious, angry at Hiruzen and the rest of the elders, he understands that they only had the village’s best interest in mind - even Danzo in his own scheming manipulative way. In truth, Itachi should be upset that he can’t be the brother Sasuke has always admired, but he’s not. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi is simply tired. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s exhausted and while his love for his brother and innate devotion towards Konoha has always reached unhealthy levels, it is not nearly enough to bring him back from the brink of death.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hears a shuffle of feet near his head, and the instinctive impulse to grab a kunai from his weapons pouch causes his finger to twitch even on the verge of death. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aniki,” he hears from somewhere above, and the utter pain seeping through the cracks of Sasuke’s faint voice tears at his dying heart. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ah</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Itachi thinks, of course Sasuke is still here. Of course his otouto is still here with his back still weakly pressed against the cold stone wall, likely unable to completely process what just transpired. Itachi probably shouldn’t feel as pleased as he does about the fact that Sasuke hasn’t left yet, but he does anyway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi dies next to his murderer, his brother, and the person he’s loved the most in the whole world. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he wakes up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Edo Tensei, Itachi thinks irritatedly, is quite the annoying Jutsu. Since he was young, Itachi has been viewed as a once in a generation prodigy, and while Itachi has the mind of a Nara and the skills of an S rank shinobi, the edo tensei was something that even he did not predict. He hadn’t realized that there was a shinobi out there who discovered the seals needed to complete the long forbidden jutsu of the nidaime. Regardless, he will simply need to curate new plans and act accordingly. He’s not too sure what the current state of affairs in the shinobi world is, but his first step should be in eliminating the caster if they pose a threat to Konoha. There are only two problems: the first is well, finding the caster. For all that Itachi is a renowned prodigy, he has no talent in chakra sensing other than from a very short distance. The second issue, and probably most significant, is the fact that he’s being controlled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Witholding a long suffering sigh (why couldn’t he even die peacefully?), he glances at the skeleton of a man awkwardly standing beside him. Something within him confirms that this man is his “partner” for the battles that the caster presumably wants them to fight. The man is quite clearly, in bad shape, and almost intuitively, Itachi leans over and offers his shoulder to his red haired partner (an Uzumaki then?) who looks as if a small breeze could blow him over. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi almost wants to laugh. The last time he’s had a sincere laugh might have been when he was 10 years old because of something Shisui did. Itachi can hardly remember what Shisui did (his best friend had shushined so fast that he had tripped over himself and right into a tree), but he doesn’t think he’s ever laughed as hard as he had then. Coincidentally, it’d be his last laugh. His last laugh because after he turned 11 and joined Anbu, everything in his life seemed to go… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Itachi,” Nagato murmurs from behind him, bringing Itachi’s train of thought back to the present. Itachi flicks a glance over his shoulder at the red haired man he’s carrying, the same man who happens to be the reason behind his desire to laugh for the first time in a decade. Itachi thinks that he’s perfectly justified in wanting to laugh in a situation like this, after all he’s just learned that this whole time the man on his back was the “true” Pain. Although, he supposes that Nagato is probably the most shocked out of the two, given that the Uzumaki was actually unaware of the existence of Tobi, or rather Madara, up until now after Itachi told him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still, something about the fact that Itachi knew about Tobi, but somehow did not know about Nagato, is hilarious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” Itachi responds, turning his head to Nagato with a slight smile on his face that he can’t help release given the ludcirity of the situation (Itachi is a literal dead man walking, the situation is indeed, quite ludicrous). Nagato visibly stiffens and seems to pull back, as much as he can in the position that he is. Itachi furrows his brows at the action, “What’s wrong? Are you in pain, Nagato-san? But that shouldn’t be possible…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-no, I’m fine, it’s not pain or anything.” The former Akatsuki leader pauses, as if unsure how to explain himself, “I-it’s just, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiled</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi raises his eyebrows at that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Itachi san, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiled</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Nagato repeats, this time with more emphasis on the “smiled.” “In all the years that you have been a part of Akatsuki, neither I nor Konan has ever seen you express any emotion other than indifference much less smile.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can’t help the minor tilt of his lips that comes from witnessing Nagato’s reaction. Does a smile really look that weird on him?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my kami! You did it again -”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nagato san,” Itachi calmly interrupts, turning his head back to the sandy beach that they’re running through, “that was not a smile, merely a quirk of the lips, nothing more. Do I seem like the type to smile in this sort of situation?” It </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>a smile, but it’s rather fun to play with the Uzumaki, Itachi muses, inwardly smiling at the deadpan stare he can feel on the back of his neck. He’s already dead, he can have a little fun can’t he? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;</b>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Itachi might actually burst into laughter this time, a crazed madman sort of laughter that rips at the throat because he’s not sure how else to express the absolutely crushing tsunami of guilt and horror that’s rippling through him right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sasuke </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His little brother has found out the brutal truth in all it’s rawness and glory, has discovered the one thing that Itachi has spent his entire life desperately, viciously attempting to hide. And worst of all, has chosen to do one of the only things Itachi wished he would not do. Sasuke has turned his hatred, his fury and anger and sadness, on Konoha. It is infuriating, maddening on so many levels he can barely even begin to explain, to realize that Itachi has dedicated years of planning, of living as a rogue nin hated and abhorred by his village, his home, for it to all go to waste. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And yet, he cannot be upset at Sasuke, because this was all his fault. He did this to Sasuke. He led his brother astray, took his life, his potential, his future, and shredded it into tiny broken pieces before throwing it into a fire. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only reason Itachi could do what he did, could bury his sword in the flesh of his family, could painstakingly carve a line of treachery and betrayal in the headband of his village, was because he believed that his damnation was worth it if it ensured Sasuke’s survival. He had hoped that after Sasuke killed him, his brother would return to the village, praised and lauded as the hero who took down the clan killer and traitor of the leaf. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh, how wrong he was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi is a pacifist at heart. It seems contradictory, but his hatred for violence is what drove him to become the best Shinobi that he can be, to come home every day with bloody knuckles, torn flesh, and broken bones. That way, he’d not only be useful to Konoha, but he could also avoid fighting as much as possible. Itachi is a shinobi, violence is his job, but he did his best to offer those he killed a quick and painless death. So to realize that everything he’s done so far, every life he’s taken, and blood he’s spilled has all been in vain...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>is sickening. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Truth be told, Itachi is slightly grateful towards Kabuto. The edo tensei has given him a chance to see his wrongdoings, to see the flaws and cracks in a plan that he was so assured in. It was wrong of him to try to manipulate his otouto, wrong of him to attempt to shoulder the burden of the world and it’s never ending hatred by himself. In his pursuit of peace, Itachi had forgotten about those around him, forgotten about his comrades, his family, and most of all his brother.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi slowly walks over to Sasuke who is largely unscathed from their fight moments before against Kabuto, and admits to his brother that he deliberately kept himself at a distance from those he cared about. He is not the perfect shinobi that his brother makes him out to be, as perfection is an impossible achievement for humans. People are like jutsus, they will always have weaknesses, but those weaknesses can be compensated by comrades, by friends, by family. He hopes that his brother will realize that, will finally open his eyes to those who are around him, to those who love him despite his attempts to run away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(Itachi thinks of a young boy with the sun in his hair and the sky in his eyes. Thinks of his wide blinding grin, confident in his ability to save Sasuke from a path of darkness.) </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Perhaps if Itachi was as open in his love towards Sasuke, towards his parents, towards the clan, as that child is, things might’ve turned out differently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(It’s a futile thought, but he spares a moment to imagine a future in which he is surrounded by those he loves.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Itachi dies for what he hopes is the last time, staring down at the fading image of his brother. He leaves more at peace than he’s ever been before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I will love you always, Sasuke. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>And then he wakes up. </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>"Oh Kami, <em>again</em><em>?"</em></strong>
</p>
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